Mike Leigh's 'Tender Loving Care' Takes Golden Shell at San Sebastián

Mike Leigh's "Tender Loving Care" swept the top honors on the final night of the San Sebastián Film Festival, winning the Golden Shell for Best Film, the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay and the Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance for Kate O'Flynn. A jury headed by U.S. filmmaker Ira Sachs made the awards.

The awards capped the festival's closing night. Leigh's film took three honors from the Official Selection, the strongest showing of any title in competition.

Home favorites Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi won the Audience Award for Best Film for their Spanish queer epic "La Bola Negra." The win came one week after the same film took the People's Choice Award at Toronto. A second Audience Award, for Best European Film, went to documentarians Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor for "NAZA," their exposé of Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

The jury spread its remaining acting honors across two continents. Amanda Kernell won the Silver Shell for Best Director for "Brace Your Heart." O'Flynn shared the Best Leading Performance prize with Asta Kamma August, recognized for "Growth of the Soil," a film that also earned Oskar Dahlsbakken the Jury Prize for Best Cinematography. Javier Cámara took the Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance for "5 More Minutes." Ah Biao's "Border" received the Special Jury Prize.

Full list of award winners

Official Selection Awards

• Golden Shell for Best Film: "Tender Loving Care," Mike Leigh
• Special Jury Prize: "Border," Ah Biao
• Silver Shell for Best Director: "Brace Your Heart," Amanda Kernell
• Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance: "Tender Loving Care," Kate O'Flynn; "Growth of the Soil," Asta Kamma August
• Silver Shell for Best Supporting Performance: "5 More Minutes," Javier Cámara
• Jury Prize for Best Cinematography: "Growth of the Soil," Oskar Dahlsbakken
• Jury Prize for Best Screenplay: "Tender Loving Care," Mike Leigh

Other Official Awards

• New Directors Award: "Body of Glass," Naëmi Ada
• Special Mention: "The World Before," Yoon Dan-bi
• Latin Horizons Award: "The Illusion of an Everlasting Summer," Alessandra Sanguinetti
• Special Mention: "Flies," Fernando Eimbcke
• Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Award: "Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma," Jane Schoenbrun
• Special Mention: "Sometimes Sadness, Sometimes Rebellion," María Aparicio
• Best Original Music Award: "Milo," Amine Bouhafa
• Audience Award for Best Film: "La Bola Negra," Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi
• Audience Award for Best European Film: "NAZA," Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor
• Irizar Basque Film Award: "Txakun txakür," Elsa Oliarj-Inès
• Culinary Zinema Award: "Burgundy," Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw
• RTVE Another Look Award: "All of a Sudden," Ryusuke Hamaguchi
• Spanish Cooperation Award: "Five Years, Four Months," Juan Miguel Gelacio and Esteban Hoyos García
• Transforma Award: "Tender Loving Care," Mike Leigh

Previously Announced Awards

• Nest Award: "Erased From the Map," Maarij Reka
• Special Mention: "Nobody Barks," Julia Coldwell Serra
• Euskadi Basque Country 2030 Agenda Award: "Ashes," Diego Luna
• Zinemaldia Startup Challenge Best Spanish Project: Pixentinel, Luis Zabala
• Zinemaldia Startup Challenge Best European Project: Virtual Location Scouting, Antti Ahokoivu
• Zinemaldia Startup Challenge Special Mention for Entrepreneurship: Virtual Location Scouting, Antti Ahokoivu
• WIP Latam Industry Award: "Lovers Go Home!," Juan Sebastián Mesa
• Egeda Platino Industria Award for the Best WIP Latam: "Galerna," Tatiana Huezo
• WIP Europa Industry Award: "In a Manner of Speaking," Val Jashari
• WIP Europa Award: "In a Manner of Speaking," Val Jashari
• XIII Europe-Latin America Co-production Forum Best Project Award: "The Amateurs," Felipe Solari Yrigoyen
• DALE! Award: "The Illusions," Ingrid Pokropek
• Artekino International Award: "Mourning Sound," Selma Cervantes
• Casa Wabi-ESCINE Award: "The Spirit Healer Is Away for the Weekend," Inês Nunes
• Tanta Award: "Akira," Ekain Albite
• Sideral Award: "Akira," Ekain Albite
• Music Library & SFX Award: "Shady Birds," Zaira Zanguitu
• Dogwoof Award: "Different Colors of Sabir," Safaa Khatib
• Epe-Ibaia-Elkargi Award: "The Hammock," Alfonso García
• Eusko Label Micro Short Film Award: "Esperantza," Josu Ozaita
• Runner-up: "Hands," Mikel Urretabizkaia
• Loterias Award: "Prejuicios," Javi Prada
• Runner-up: "Headscarf," Lucía Saavedra

The Golden Shell positions "Tender Loving Care" as a title to watch in the coming awards season, while "La Bola Negra" now carries audience prizes from both Toronto and San Sebastián into its Spanish release.